A typical shared computing environment such as a utility data center includes servers and disk arrays coupled together by a network. Users run applications on the shared computing system to produce results. The applications use computing resources such as processors, memory capacity, storage capacity, and bandwidth.
Multiple shared computing environments can be coupled together by a network to form a grid computing environment. In such an environment, users are able to select a particular shared computing environment to run one or more applications. Currently, a particular user who wishes to use computing resources in a shared computing environment contacts a human operator who determines whether the resources are available. If they are available, a human operator must configure the resources for the particular user.
While such techniques provide resources to users, these techniques require manual intervention by a human operator. These techniques are also likely to be inefficient and prone to error. A more desirable technique would be to employ a method of managing resources in a shared computing environment that did not require the intervention of a human operator.
What is needed is a method of and system for managing resources in a shared computing environment.